我想成为一位受人尊敬的科学家,不必成为一名诺贝尔奖得主,但却是能够做出像样贡献的人。我开始在布加勒斯特大学学习生物化学。在尼古拉·齐奥塞斯库的独裁统治结束(1989年——译者注)后不到一年的时间,我毕业了。我第一次得以自由地看着这个世界,渴望到美国读博士。我的父亲——一位生物老师,他知道所有树木的科学名称,经常和他的学生们一起探索邻近的Macin山脉——鼓励我去读。当我年轻的时候,边境是严肃、可怕的。穿越我人生中第一个边境需要一个护照——在独裁统治时期被禁止—— I want to be a respected scientist who does not have to be a Nobel laureate but who can make a decent contribution. I started studying biochemistry at Bucharest University. Less than a year after Nicholas Ceausescu’s dictatorship ended (1989 - translator’s note), I graduated. For the first time, I was free to look at the world and long for a Ph.D. in the United States. My father, a biological teacher, who knows the scientific names of all the trees and often explores the nearby Macin Mountains with his students - encourages me to read it. When I was young, the border was serious and scary. Passing through the first border of my life requires a passport - Prohibited during dictatorship -